This invention relates to penile erection systems for individuals who have erectile dysfunction and more particularly to a novel penile prosthesis and method for supporting the penis in an erectile position, when desired, and permitting the penis to return to a flaccid condition, when desired.
Prosthetic devices for supporting the penis in an erectile condition have long been used to compensate for erectile dysfunctions that otherwise prevent an individual from having an erection.
Generally, penile prostheses which support the penis in an erectile condition also permit the penis to assume a flaccid posture when the erectile posture is no longer desired. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,893,465 and 4,151,840 show penile prostheses that include a relatively rigid member that supports the penis in an erectile condition and can also be bent to maintain the penis in a flaccid posture. However, the flexural stiffness of these prosthetic devices prevent the penis from having the free flexibility that is normally associated with a flaccid penis, and thus do not provide the comfort of a flaccid penis.
U.S Pat. Nos. 4,201,202 and 4,558,693 include a combination of a flexible elongated rod surrounded by a fluid expandable chamber. However the flexible rod must be bent to place the penis in a flaccid condition and also does not provide the comfort of a flaccid penis.
Ideally a penile prosthesis should permit restoration of the penis to a flexible flaccid condition when an erectile condition is no longer desired. Fluid inflatable or expandable erectile devices such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,009,711; 4,267,829 and 4,383,525 rely on the presence of fluid in a rigidification chamber to establish an erectile condition. The expulsion of fluid from the rigidification chamber helps establish a flaccid condition of the penis. However, such devices generally require a substantial amount of fluid and/or a substantial amount of fluid pressure within a rigidification chamber to achieve an erectile condition. As a result, the rigidification chamber wall must be reinforced as for example, by using a laminate construction such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,829. The reinforced chamber wall has a predetermined stiffness that limits flexibility of the prosthesis even when the amount of pressure or fluid in the rigidification chamber is reduced. Thus, the flaccid condition of the prosthesis is limited in flexibility by the inherent stiffness of the reinforced chamber wall.
It is thus desirable to provide a penile prosthesis that can be placed in an erectile condition at a relatively low pressure and does not require flexibility-limiting reinforced walls to contain the pressure in a rigidification chamber.
As used herein, the term "flaccid condition" refers to a flexible condition of the prosthesis that corresponds to a flaccid penile condition. The term "erectile condition" as used herein refers to a rigid condition of the prosthesis that enables the prosthesis to assume a posture analogous to that of an erectile condition of the penis.